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In the aftermath of its failed bid to merge with rival Aetna, US health insurer Humana says it will drop out of the healthcare exchanges set up under the Affordable Care Act – a move that sent President Donald Trump to Twitter pointing to it as the latest sign of the shortcomings of his predecessor Barack Obama’s signature healthcare reform.

Humana’s chief executive Bruce Broussard said during a call on Tuesday that thanks to the “unbalanced risk pool” in the exchanges, “we’ve decided that we cannot continue to offer this coverage in 2018.”

The move prompted a tweet from Mr Trump, which read: “Obamacare continues to fail. Humana to pull out in 2018. Will repeal, replace & save healthcare for ALL Americans.”

Mr Trump and Republican lawmakers have made repealing and replacing the so-called Obamacare law a key legislative priority, while some insurers have suffered losses as more sick people buy insurance through the exchanges.